Automatic mail-crane.



BI h E L A B a AUTOMATIC MAIL CRANE.

(Application filed Mar. 26, 1901 (N0 Muriel.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC GEORGE A. BAILEY, OF LOVELAND, IOWA.

AUTOMATIC MAIL-GRAN E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 686,840, dated November 19, 1901. Application filed March 26, 1901. Serial No. 52,987- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. BAILEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Loveland, in the county of Pottawattamie and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Automatic Mail-Crane, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in automatic mail-cranes.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of mail-cranes and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient one adapted to hold a mail-bag in convenient position for enabling it to be taken off by a moving train, to obviate the necessity of stopping the same at such station, and capable of automatically arranging the supporting-arms out of the way after the mail bag or pouch has been removed, to clear the track and avoid endangering the lives of trainmen.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mail-crane constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a detail view illustrating the manner of mounting the lower arm on the standard or post. Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of the pivoted plates or fingers.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a standard or post designed to be constructed of any suitable material, preferably hollow malleable cast metal to secure strength and lightness, and it is provided at its top with a casing 2, having perforated sides for the reception of an upper arm 3. The casing is open at its front to permit the arm 3 to swing upward and downward, and it receives a coiled spring 4:, connected with the inner end of the arm and adapted to swing the latter upward to the position illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings when the mail bag or pouch is removed by a train. WVhen the upper arm is swung upward to the position illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings, it is outof the way and there is no danger of a train-crew coming in contact with the same and being injured thereby. Instead of employing a spring a weight or any other suitable means may be provided for swinging the arm upward automatically. The spring is preferably secured to a lug or projection of the arm 3 and to the upper end of the post or standard".

The mail bag or pouch 5 is designed to be provided wit-h upper and lower loops 6 and 7, adapted to be arranged on pivoted plates or fingers 8 and 9 of the upper arm 3 and a lower arm 10, and these plates or fingers, which are adapted to be turned at right angles, as indicated in Fig. 3, are secured at their inner ends to the upper and lower arms by rivets 11 and 12, which form the pivots. The lower arm is provided at its inner end with a heel or extension 13, pivoted between perforated ears 14 of a collar 15, loosely arranged on the post or standard and adapted to slide down ward on the same, as indicated in Fig. 1,when the bag is removed. The pivot 16,which connects the lower supporting-arm to the collar or sleeve 15, is arranged at the angle of the arm, and when the latter swings downward after the bag is removed it does not come in contact with the post or standard, but assists in sliding the sleeve or collardownward. The heel or extension projects above the sleeve or collar, and when the lower supporting-arm is swung upward to a horizontal position the said heel or extension is engaged with the post or standard and is maintained in such engagement by the tension of the spring when the bag is in position. The verticallymovable sleeve or collar enables the lower supporting-arm to be adjusted to suit the length of a mail bag or pouch, and the lower arm is capable of engaging the post or standard at any desired point, and after the bag is removed it will drop down to the bottom of the post or standard. If desired, any suitable antifriction devices may be pro vided to cause the sleeve or collar to slide freely.

The lower end of the standard or post is provided with arms which are secured to. a

block or base 17, adapted to be placed on a platform or arranged at any desired point; but the standard or post may be mounted in any other suitable manner, if desired.

It will be seen that the mail-crane is ex- IOO ceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, that it is strong and durable, and that it is capable of supporting a mail bag or pouch in convenient position to enable it to be taken off by a moving train in the usual manner, and that after the mail-bag has been removed the supporting-arms will be swung out of the Way to clear the track and avoid endangering the lives of train-crews. It will also be apparent that the lower supportingarm is vertically adjustable to enable the crane to be arranged to accommodate mail bags or pouches of different lengths and that after it has been arranged as shown in full lines in Fig. 1 it will not require any attention until it is necessary to place another bag in posit-ion.

What I claim is- 1. A device of the class described comprising a post or support, an upper supportingarm adapted to receive one end of a mail pouch or bag, alowersupporting-arm adapted to receive the other end of the mailbag or pouch, and a vertically-slidable sleeve or collar connecting the lower arm with the post or support and adapted to slide downward on the same when the bag is removed, said lower arm being provided with means for frictionally engaging the post or support to prevent the sleeve or collar from sliding upward accidentally, substantially as described.

2. A device of the class described comprising a post or support, an upper pivotallymounted arm adapted to receive one end of a mail-pouch and arranged to swing upward automatically, a collar or sleeve slidingly mounted on the post or support, and a lower arm adapted to receive the other end of the mailpouch and provided at its inner end with a heel or extension and pivoted at its angle to the collar or sleeve and adapted to move downward with the same automatically, said heel being arranged to engage the post or support when the pouch is in position, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE A. BAILEY.

Witnesses:

W. F. CARPENTER, J os. Wilson. 

